Logistics

Virunga National Park is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is Africa's first national park. It gives shelter to a bio-diverse ecosystem and to endangered animals, including over half the world's population of Mountain Gorillas.

However, trees in the park are being cut down at a rate of 2.3%, the highest rate of deforestation in the DR Congo. The country lost 14,331 square miles of forest between 2000 and 2010.

A massive illegal charcoal industry worth almost two billion American dollars is the primary cause of deforestation in the park. The industry is fed by refugees of civil strife who have gathered around the borders of Virunga. Many people are dependent upon the charcoal trade, whether they make, sell, or use charcoal. Rebel groups hiding in the forest, and even underpaid soldiers employed by the government turn to charcoal as a source of income.

Other causes of deforestation include subsistence agriculture, the logging industry, climate change, and mining.